As our departure approaches, MeVs is gathering last minute materials in preparation for upcoming Monolith Festival. Self-certified veterans of the festival circuit now, we wanted to bestow some words of wisdom/caution to all the festival newbies out there planning on trekking north to Monolith or even those attending the oh-so-awesome Austin City Limits in our backyard in October. Read More
Five!
Draft magazine described Amsterdam Bar as:
Not your average yuppie-filled pub, the Amsterdam is a low-key, TV-free zone where you can concentrate on the drinking menu full of beers (try the Live Oak Hefe Weizen brewed in Austin). Kick it inside the airy, high ceilinged bar, or out on the patio during that nice Texas weather–just watch out for beer-juggling bartenders.
Amsterdam Bar, located at 831 Exposition Avenue, is your neighborhood Cheers, where even Sheldon, one of the best bartenders in town knows your name. The atmosphere is always friendly and the girls are hipster-ishly cute. With very little pretentiousness if any at all, this place has been my Austin away from Austin for a couple months now. It lies in the struggling but regrowing area of Fair Park next to Victory Sport Taekwondo, and Rob’s Chop Shop and offers an array of draft choices served with a hat-trick and smile. Prices are very competitive, which makes it very difficult to try any of the other nearby establishments.
Bonus: Monday nights include free jazz from a handful of musicians. According to the Amsterdam blog, the lineup is based on the members of The Shelley Carrol quartet, but the lineup changes weekly as individuals take a night off and friends and guests sit in for a set or even for the entire evening.
Got the case of the Mondays? Come out and chill with the cool cats at Amsterdam. And if you’re feeling a little hesitant about the heavy drinking, try the ACE Pear Cider, described by one patron as “liquid candy”.
I’m a huge fan of Shiner, and have been closely following the annual beers they have been releasing as a lead-up to their 100th year anniversary. My favorite has so far been the 98th year edition, though I never got a chance to try Shiner 96, the first in this centennial series.
It goes without saying that I’ve been really anticipating the final chapter in this delicious saga, the aptly named Shiner Commemorator (or Shiner 100), which was released in Dallas a few weeks after the New Year. After years of build up, I had (perhaps unreal) expectations of this beer being the absolute pinnacle of Texas beer-dom.
It is with profound sadness that I so write this judgement: Commemorator is a big let-down. I’m not going into the milieu used to “professionally” break down beer, but will describe some of my impressions. I found the first malty sip enjoyable, but with each successive drink there was a growing metallic, boozy after-taste that left me cringing. In a weird way, it reminded me of that lingering taste you get when drinking a Miller High Life, except it’s a darker. This is not a good thing. The impression only strengthens the farther you get into a bottle, and the final swigs were almost a chore.
I like Shiner enough that I had moral reservations about writing this post, but my disappointment was too overwhelming. I think it’s the worst of the beers I have tried in the series. Even more damaging was that it didn’t even come close to challenging a different beer I love brewed in the same Doppelbock style, called Ayinger Celebrator.
I’m hoping Shiner releases some sort of “sampler” pack with all of the anniversary edition beers, 96 through 100. It would be a fun way to make a final judgement on which beer rules this series. It’s a shame the finale turned out this way though.
Got a thought on the Shiner centennial series? Let’s hear it -
After this weekends first successive pub crawl, I wanted to inform some of the readers about some caveats concerning the ride.
Scenario:
-11:45pm – 12:00pm – Waited at Park ln. Dart Station.
-12:00pm – Rode to Mockingbird station with bikes. Very cramped. Little to no room for passengers with bicycles.
-12:15pm – Arrived at The Cavern.
-12:45pm – Intoxicated
-1:00pm – 1:30pm – Drinking games at Old Crow.
-1:35pm – Skipped the Dart, cruised home with no problems.
Takeaways:
-Dart was too crowded even at on Friday at midnight.
-Dart is only optimal when traveling significant distances.
-Bike lights are extremely recommended.
-Greenville Ave. very crawl-able.
-Will be repeating very soon. (After holiday break)
-Gloves are crucial when battling winter windchill.
-The more the merrier.
Rolling 4 deep was a great start. All human powered vehicles are welcome. Email MeVersus for future rides!
Being an ex-longhorn, I have a really hard time giving any other academic institute any merit. To my surprise, the Art Institute of Dallas floored me last night. The culinary division hosts a quarterly breakfast buffet feast for the students to show off their skills. You know, their sausage skills. Their scramble skills. Their salmon omelet skills. People come, they eat, they smile. After some warm up beers (it was quite chilly last night, 38°), my palette was prime. Two thumbs up and a mouthful of gratitude to the Fall quarter culinary class.
Drive-in burger joints are becoming a rarity in big cities, victims of today’s “need-it-now” culture. People don’t have time to sit and wait while food is brought to their car anymore, not when they can get drive to the food and begin eating two minutes sooner. But for fans of a simpler, slightly less lazy era the drive-in offers all the comfort of immediate meals without the hassle of rising from a chair.
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